


shining just for you

by betweentwopines



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst and Feels, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fox is stressed, Grief/Mourning, Riyo needs a hug, but thought I'd warn ya anyways just in case, chapter 1 has some blood and gore but nothing super serious just a bit more than tcw would show us, give the man a break, riyo and ahsoka's friendship is so pure, title from a taylor swift song (mirrorball)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:36:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29789988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweentwopines/pseuds/betweentwopines
Summary: Senator Riyo Chuchi's diplomatic ship goes down because of a Separatist attack. Riyo and Commander Fox are the only survivors. Survival has a way of bringing people together.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & CC-4477 | Thire, CC-1010 | Fox & CC-5869 | Stone, CC-1010 | Fox & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-1010 | Fox & Clone Commander Thorn (Star Wars), Riyo Chuchi & Ahsoka Tano, Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	shining just for you

**Author's Note:**

> i blame foxiyo week 2020 for this.  
> seriously I thought this would be a oneshot, but it's a bit longer now.  
> so the first chapter does have some blood and gore in Riyo's pov with talk of dismemberment in the paragraph that begins "riyo watched with focus..." in case that bothers you.  
> anyway, hope you enjoy the first chapter!!

Fox was well aware of his place in things. He was the one in charge. He was the one the shinies looked up to and feared all at once. He had a lot of responsibilities and no time to shirk any of them. He had long ago run out of time to drink with the other commanders, Stone and Thire and Thorn. No time to blow off some steam. No rest, no relief. It was a taxing job being the commander of the Coruscant Guard. Senators getting into trouble. Citizens getting into trouble. Trying to protect people who resented the clones protecting them. 

Because Fox knew his place, it was all the more jarring to suddenly find himself out of place. To wake up in a downed shuttle in the middle of the afternoon on Vandor, sunlight shining in the cracked and shattered viewport, illuminating the dead clones at his side. 

It was supposed to be an easy protection detail. A favor called in and the commander of the Guard got tasked with protection detail. Didn’t matter that Fox had a million other things to do besides protecting four stuck-up senators who didn’t even have the decency to treat him or any of his brothers as real people. No, Fox’s opinion never mattered to any one except the _vode._

Fox stood from his kneeled position at Grady’s side. Grady was about to be promoted. Fox had signed off on the paperwork this morning, or could’ve been yesterday. Time always seemed to flow differently around Fox. Stone kept time like he had a built in clock or somethin’. Fox lost track of time more often than not. 

Grady would never get that promotion, and none of these men would be going home. 

There was a whimper behind him, an indication of life. Not only had Fox lost all his men, but the universe decided to let a senator live alongside Fox. No time to mourn. No time to do anything but save the kriffing senator’s life. 

He turned around and moved to her side, pushing aside the debris that had fallen on her. He thought it was part of the bulkhead from the other side of the ship, but he couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t a crime scene analyst. They had droids for that, and as the Coruscant Police liked to tell him, he was a guardsman, not a detective. 

Golden eyes looked up at him as he knelt beside the senator and tried to undo her seat restraints. They were jammed. _What a surprise._ Fox reached for his vibroblade. 

“What are your injuries, ma’am?” Best to get down to the vital information. It was likely she was in shock. She wouldn’t be focused on his abrupt manner. 

She didn’t respond as Fox cut through her seat restraints. 

“Ma’am?” Fox asked again as she made no move to get up. 

A shuddering breath left her body, and her eyes drifted shut. Fox grumbled under his breath about stupid senators dying on him and reached out to take stock of her injuries for himself. She was Pantoran, but their anatomy was similar enough to humans for Fox to figure out if she was going to die on him or not. 

Her eyes flew open as his hand landed on her throat. She had a pulse. _Not dead then._

She reached up a shaking hand and pushed his hand away. “I’m fine, Commander. Go check on the others.” 

“They’re dead.” 

The fog seemed to clear from her eyes at his harsh proclamation, but her eyes closed too fast for him to really figure it out. He sighed and stood up. He’d take her word that she was fine. It wouldn’t matter a lick if she was fine or not if he couldn’t find a way to get the communications equipment working again. 

Fox moved to the ship’s controls, though the entire ship was on its side, so it meant Fox was walking the walls of the ship. He still figured he could hotwire the communications if he needed to. He hoped at least. If it was at all similar to hotwiring speeders, they’d be good. If hotwiring a ship was vastly different from hotwiring a speeder, then they’d be in trouble.

Fox didn’t count much on having any sort of good luck. 

He placed a hand on the controls and climbed up to where the communications device was located. It reminded him of training on Kamino. Except then, Wolffe wasn’t there to tease him about his lack of grace. At least on Kamino, he’d never been alone. 

Fox poked around the wires and used his vibroblade to strip a few wires, hoping his rudimentary skills would be enough to fix the comm. 

The spark that quickly caught fire surprised Fox enough that he lost his grip on the controls and went falling to the floor. He landed hard on his side, not having time to attempt to catch himself. He groaned as he felt something give in his back. He was a genetically engineered soldier. Surely the Kaminoans could’ve done something to prevent clones from developing back issues. Then again, no one else in the guard seemed to have Fox’s problem, so maybe he was just defective or somethin’.

He pushed to his feet and sighed. So the chances of getting a working comm were slim, and that meant the chances of a quick rescue were also slim. The Republic would come eventually when they realized the Senators never made it to their diplomatic summit, but that would be days at least. 

“Are...are we the only ones left?” 

Fox turned at the senator’s shaky, soft-spoken question. She was standing now, an arm around her stomach, her blue pants torn. He wished he had a scanner. Then he could be sure there were no internal injuries that would result in her dying on him the first day out here...wherever here was. 

“Yes.” He turned back to the controls and reached up. At least their locator was still functioning. That meant they could pinpoint their own location, and whoever came looking for them would find the ship and hopefully them along with it. 

The holo map appeared and Fox was pleased to see they were in the Mid-Rim still. However, he was not pleased to see that they were on Vandor and far from any settlement. It would be a week’s travel to the nearest settlement. By that time, the Republic would be here. Their best bet would be to wait it out. 

Fox shut down the holomap. The busted viewport mocked him. The cockpit was the only part of the ship without structural damage. It would be the perfect place to wait it out, if it wasn’t for the shattered hole in the viewport. He’d need to go outside and see if he could get up there and patch it up somehow. Solder usually kept welding equipment on his person at all times. In that damn bag he always carried around. 

Fox moved over to Solder’s body and opened the bag. The welding equipment was all there and intact. _“Vor entye, vod.”_

Fox stood and wished he had more time to do something, to mourn, to grieve–

He powered up the welder then powered it down. He’d have to find a piece of metal to wield over the hole in the viewport. Then he’d have to see if he could even reach the viewport from the outside of the ship. The ship was sitting on its side, so Fox would have to climb up top to access the viewport. He’d have to tie himself off and rappel down the side in order to weld the metal on, so he’d need some rope and an anchor too. 

“Commander, what can I do to help?” 

Fox started at the Senator’s voice. Right, he wasn’t alone. He had to keep her safe and secure. And likely she’d expect him to keep her comfortable too. Stars, when the temperature fell tonight, he’d need to get a blanket for her. And he’d definitely need to have the gaping hole in the viewport repaired. 

“We’re on Vandor. Mid-Rim planet. When we fail to show for the summit, they’ll send someone to the last location of this vessel. As long as we’re still here in the next few days, we’ll be fine. I need to go outside and patch that hole in the viewport.” 

She nodded her head, once. It reminded Fox of a shiny. 

He moved out of the cockpit and toward the hold. It was a mangled mess, and the few troopers that had been in here had been blown out into space when the back half of the ship broke apart. He walked toward the edges of the ship, and found a piece of the hull ripped almost off that would suit his needs. He pulled out the metal cutter and got to work shearing it completely off. It fell to the ground with a clang. He knelt and tested its weight. It would be heavy, but manageable. The real problem was hoisting the metal up to the viewport. He sighed. He’d better set up his rope and anchor. 

Fox turned to go grab the rope and stopped in his tracks. “What are you doing?” He didn’t have time to filter his question and had no idea how he would even begin to. 

Senator Chuchi finished dragging the Nautolan senator’s body through the threshold of the cockpit and turned to him. “We’re going to be camping out in the cockpit, right? I’d rather not camp out with the dead.” 

“I can do that.” A senator shouldn’t be moving bodies. It wasn’t right. It was a clone’s job. 

“If you don’t need help with the viewport, I can do this.” There was a quiet determination in her gaze, but Fox didn’t forget the way she held her stomach earlier. 

“You might be injured. I’d rather you just stay put.” 

“I’m fine. Just some bruises.” 

“I’m not letting you die on my watch, ma’am.” Fox came up with an excuse. “I’ll need someone inside to make sure I get the placement of the metal right.” 

“I can do that.” The senator’s voice had a pleasing lilt. At least if she was a talker, Fox wouldn’t get too annoyed during their wait. 

He moved outside and into the cold. He did a quick scan of the area around them. When the ship crashed, it appeared to have slid down the side of this mountain and land a short way from the nearby forest. That was good. It meant Fox could get wood to build a fire. 

Fox turned back to the ship and grabbed a piece of the mangled metal hull, wincing as it cut into his glove. He ignored it and hauled himself up onto what was now the top of the ship. He pulled out the anchor and rope and moved across the ship to the viewport. He situated his anchor and tied off the rope. 

He tested it out, rappelling the few feet down to the viewport. Fox wasn’t exactly sure how much weight the anchor and rope combination would hold. He wasn’t one to keep useless information in the back of his head. That was more Thire’s tendency. If he was here, or if Kowak was still alive, he’d have all the information. Hell, if any of these boys were still alive, they’d have the information. They’d all heard Kowak drone on about climbing and rappelling. There was a literal rock climbing wall in the GAR headquarters on Coruscant, and that was all because Kowak convinced Stone that it was something they needed. Stone convinced Fox to sign off on it with the claim that more troops staying at headquarters to rock climb on shore leave meant less troops getting into trouble after drinking too much at 79s. 

Once back on top of the ship, Fox untied the rope from around his waist and moved back across the top of the ship to the spot where he could easily slide off the ship and to the ground. When his feet hit the ground, he ignored the spike of pain that traveled up his left leg. The blood on his thigh plate had increased. That wound was far deeper than it should be, but once a shelter was set up Fox could tend to it. 

Fox rounded the edge of the ship and saw the senator’s hunched over form. He cursed and moved as quickly as he could over to her side. Her knees were in the snow and the sound of gagging could be heard now. As he came to stand beside her, she threw some snow into her face. 

“Senator Chuchi?” 

She kept her hands on her face, still covered in bits of snow. It had to be cold for her, though she was Pantoran. Pantora was a snow world. Maybe she didn’t get as cold as humans. 

Chuchi no longer seemed on the verge of throwing up, so Fox took a moment to study here. There were no obvious signs of injury. 

“If you’re injured–” 

“I’m fine.” She turned her head and golden eyes connected with his through the helmet. She looked away as quickly as she made the connection. “I’m not used to seeing so much blood.” She pushed to her feet, a hand going back to her stomach. Fox wondered if she was about to throw up again. “I’ve moved the less injured bodies to the hold. I’ll try to finish up.” 

Fox looked back to the ship as understanding hit him. Some of the clones hadn’t been strapped in, leaving their bodies at distorted angles. And some of the clones had been strapped in, so when the metal hull sheared off and into the ship, they were impaled. 

“I told you, ma’am. I’ll handle the bodies. You just stay out here for a bit. Spot me as I weld the metal onto the viewport. Make sure my foot doesn’t sit somewhere it shouldn’t.” 

She nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.” 

***

Riyo watched with focus as Commander Fox welded the metal into place over the hole in the viewport. It was clear he didn’t really need her out here. She wasn’t doing anything. Fox was careful where he placed his feet and hands. He wasn’t going to fall or send the whole viewport careening inward. It was obviously a way to distract her. She appreciated it, because clearly she needed it. She shuddered to think of the bodies in the ship. Senator Isshah had been a beautiful human man before a piece of the ship’s hull had severed his legs from his body and a variety of other pieces had embedded themselves in his chest and face. The other two senators had broken necks, so Riyo bucked up and got them out of their broken seats and into the hold.  
But she couldn’t bring herself to pick up pieces of someone’s body and–

She refocused on Fox. She couldn’t think about it or she’d be sick again. Of course there was nothing in her stomach to throw up, but dry heaves still shuddered through her and left her feeling nauseous. 

Fox was on top of the ship now. The hole had been covered. She wondered if it’d be rude to tell him that she’d rather take her chances in the forest. That she couldn’t stomach the thought of going back in the ship and seeing all the blood and...and gore. She hadn’t known the clones that died, but she’d known the senators and still blood was blood and people were people and it was all too much for her. 

Riyo could deal with death. She’d been on Pantoran’s moon and seen Pantorans impaled by the Talz’s weapons, but she hadn’t had to see the results of them bleeding out. Hadn’t had to smell the stench of death and blood and…

She fell to her knees as more dry heaves overtook her. C’mon Riyo. Focus on anything else. She looked up when a hand landed on her shoulder and took in the man in front of her. She wasn’t alone in this. Fox was here. She focused on him. 

“Senator Chuchi, I’ll remove the bodies, and then you can come back in the ship.” 

She shook her head, only adding to her nausea. 

“I’m not going back in there.” 

He muttered something under his breath that she didn’t catch. Something about how she was being a baby, she was sure. It wasn’t like she hadn’t ever seen blood before either. Human and a variety of other species. It wasn’t like she hadn’t fought off attackers with a knife and drew blood herself. She was Riyo Chuchi, Senator of Pantora, for star’s sake. She should be stronger than this. 

She took a shuddering breath, then another and another, until she felt calmer. She had been using the breathing techniques Ahsoka had taught her more and more frequently in her life. Way more than she thought she would, but Ahsoka was right. It was calming. She’d have to get Ahsoka to show her the rest of the meditation techniques. She couldn’t quite fall into it like she wished she could. 

She pushed to her feet and faced Fox. She opened her mouth to tell him that she would tough it out when there was a roaring sound and blinding light illuminated them. Riyo took a moment to realize just how dark it had gotten outside while Fox had fixed the viewport. Then Fox’s hand was gripping hers and he was dragging her toward the ship. 

A blaster bolt landed in the snow in front of them, and Fox halted their movements. He reached for his blaster as she turned to find the source of the shot. 

“Nobody move.” The voice belonged to a Weequay pirate aiming a blaster rifle at her and Fox. “Put down that gun, trooper.” 

“I’d suggest you do it.” Another Weequay appeared behind the first. This one Riyo recognized. She’d never been on the team of senators tasked with negotiating for the release of the Jedi Skywalker and Kenobi, but she had friends who were. Hondo Onhaka was a formidable pirate and a master negotiator. But he just might be their best chance for survival, if Riyo could outtalk him.

**Author's Note:**

> hey, hope you enjoyed! if so, a kudo/comment would make my day!! thanks for reading!!
> 
> Mando'a translations:
> 
> vode: brothers (what the clones call themselves)  
> vor entye, vod: thank you, brother
> 
> also; you can find me on tumblr if you want to chat or scream about tcw or any star wars really.


End file.
